Blast kills 12, injures dozens in Philippines

MANILA, Oct 10 (Reuters) At least a dozen people were killed and more than 40 were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded during a town festival in the southern Philippines, army and police officials said today.

Federico Dulay, police chief of North Cotabato province, said a homemade bomb, fashioned from a mortar round, exploded at around 2000 hrs (1200 GMT) near a packed gymnasium in Makilala town, which was celebrating its 52nd anniversary.

''We are still investigating the incident,'' Dulay told reporters. ''We are not ruling out anything, including a terrorist attack.'' The Philippines, a largely Catholic state, is fighting Muslim and communist insurgencies on its southern islands, home to some of the country's poorest communities and a significant Muslim minority.

A spokesman for the country's largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently holding peace talks with Manila, denied any involvement in the attack.

''Honestly, we have no role in these bombings,'' said Eid Kabalu.

Makilala is a Christian-dominated town with a small Muslim population. Communist guerrilla group, the New People's Army (NPA), which has been waging a rebellion since 1969, is also active in the area.

Earlier today, a powerful blast ripped through a public market in Tacurong city, around 50 km from Makilala, wounding four people.

The local army commander said the Tacurong attack could have been the handiwork of Muslim militants with links to Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a Southeast Asian terror network that seeks an Islamic superstate in parts of southeast Asia and Australia.

Local Muslim rebel group, Abu Sayyaf, has been sheltering members of JI in the southern Philippines and around 6,000 troops have been trying since August 1. to flush them out from the island of Jolo.

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